Richard Smith captured 9-foot snake after he saw it heading for a drain during a storm Saturday

Receive the latest local updates in your inbox

A Burmese python that was on the loose in a neighborhood in Bon Air has a new home.

Richard Smith captured the 9-foot snake after he saw it heading for a drain during a storm Saturday. The python is now being cared for by Vinny Ferraiolo, owner of Off the Ark Exotic Pets in Chester.

Dade Commission Approves No-Kill Shelter Plan

The Miami-Dade County Commission has approved a plan that will stop the killing of adoptable dogs and cats in county shelters. Commissioner Esteban "Steve" Bovo and Michael Rosenberg and Rita Schwartz of the Pets' Trust discussed the issue. (Published Tuesday, June 18, 2013)

Smith said he knew the python was in trouble when he saw it and did the only thing he could think to do: He grabbed it by the tail, and pulled.

"When I grabbed it by the tail, it got real agitated..." he told WWBT-TV. "I tried to talk to it and say, 'I will help you. I'm going to help you.'"

Dog Days of Summer 2013 - Gallery V

He said he would have helped any kind of animal in need.

The python -- which, at 15 pounds, is underweight -- is now recooperating at Ferraiolo's shop. He said he thinks the python hadn't had a good meal in several months.

"He's thin," Ferraiolo told WWBT-TV. "I really believe that whoever had him probably wasn't taking good care of him... fought with the idea for a while... and then let him go."

Ferraiolo said many pet owners think it's illegal to own pythons, "so they won't turn them in" when they can no longer care for them.